AN INTERVIEW WITH LEANNE BAYLEY – CONTENT EDITOR OF GLAMOUR.COM – BRITISH GLAMOUR.

Welcome to my new GIRLBOSS series! Once a month I am going to bring you ‘AN INTERVIEW WITH’…it’ll feature people who inspire me whether it be fashion, health + wellness or travel related. To kick things off I bring you, the super GLAMOURous, Leanne Bayley – Content Editor of GLAMOUR.COM.

I’ve chosen Leanne as I love her writing for GLAMOUR, she is really fun + like me, she LOVES Leopard Print, The Colour Pink, Metallics, Glitter, Statement Necklaces, Pom Poms + has the most AMAZING wardrobe. She also has the most gorgeous dog called COCO who is literally Dolly’s twin.

1. Tell us about your career history and how you landed your dream job at GLAMOUR UK? After the odd internship after University (I studied Journalism in Sunderland), I did a few assignments for the local paper in Coventry, and then in the summer of 2008 I got my first big break on the picture team of ELLE Online. I applied to be a picture intern because I *really* wanted to work at ELLE, but I had zero clue about what working in pictures was all about! But I’m so glad that I got that gig because even though I always wanted to be a writer, working on the art desk was so creative and fun, and taught me so much about working in digital. I still wanted to be a writer though, so when I managed to get a meeting with the online editor of InStyle she asked if I could write as well as do pictures – that was music to my ears! The rest is history. After a stint of doing both picture research and writing at InStyle, I moved on to Cosmopolitan where I stayed for two years as the online Entertainment Writer. My world came crashing down when my role at Cosmo ended suddenly. Seriously, I thought my career was over (I’ve always been a drama queen) but when I bumped into a GLAMOUR girl I’d met once before at an event, she told me there was a job at GLAMOUR coming up, and said “I should put my hat in the ring”. It just goes to show – everything really does happen for a reason. I’ve just celebrated my three year Glamourversary – I started as News Editor and now I’m Content Editor, making sure we give our readers all the best fashion insight, beauty inspiration, health and lifestyle advice and career guidance. Of course there’s a bit of celebrity gossip as well – and our annual sexiest men list. It would be rude not to!

2. What are your tips for anyone looking to get into the Fashion/Journalism/PR industry? Find your own brand and be true to it, write blogs, film vlogs and use social media to keep your brand consistent and use it to raise your profile and demo it in interviews – if you are ever tempted to do a drunk tweet, please don’t! What you put out there represents who you are. Ultimately, the best piece of advice I can give is to be kind to people. Honestly, there’s so much movement within this entire industry… people flit from one job to another, so you want to make sure you’re remembered for all of the right reasons. I personally look for interns who say yes to doing things outside of work; a movie screening, an awards show red carpet or taking street style pictures over the weekend at fashion week. This industry isn’t 9-5 and showing enthusiasm is key. Fake it until you make it!

3. How do you stay inspired when writing or posting content? Your feed is always so consistent and fun!I think it helps that GLAMOUR is such a wonderful place to work, and every morning we have a team conference where we bash ideas around the room. Whether it’s serious stuff or baby pandas that need a name, we discuss it. Also, I stay inspired because I always know how many eyes are on GLAMOUR. You need to be totally aware of what your audience likes (and what they don’t!), but I love it when I put up a piece of content and the numbers shoot up.

4. What’s hot for SS17!?As someone who doesn’t really suit the colour black, I’m super excited by all the colour. Fuchsia, La La Land yellow and candy stripes dominated the spring summer 2017 shows. Also very eager for the ruffles to hit my wardrobe – and the Flashdance shoulder drape. I reckon the Gucci T-Shirt will still be going strong – and I’m 100% loving this Chanel tee that I’ve spotted from the Cruise collection. I hate to say this, but #TShirtGoals. (I knew exactly what tee she was talking about…obvs).

5. Who’s your favourite celeb that you’ve met or interviewed? Ooh! I get asked this a lot – and I usually have a brain freeze. Or I can only remember the Z-listers. Let me think…. Ok, my favourite was probably Jude Law. Why? Because he was as smooth as his character in The Holiday. Honestly, I would have his 108th baby. Other notable celebs – Britney Spears, Chris Hemsworth (Hot!), the Magic Mike boys, Kim Kardashian, Kendall Jenner, the Fifty Shades cast, Paris Hilton…. oh, and I was once flown to New York to interview One Direction (for a mere 5 minutes). I’ll always be a fan of Zayn and the way he feigned interest in the questions I was asking about the 1D fragrance.

6. You have a VERY cool job…what’s the best and worst part? The best part is going to work every day and loving your job, and genuinely liking who you work with. There are so many perks to working for a big brand like GLAMOUR but I can hand on heart say that I have my dream job. The worst bit? The early mornings aren’t so great. I start at 8.30am… also not being able to tick off everything on the to-do list. Being online you don’t have the luxury of a ‘quiet time’ – there’s always a new story to write.

7. Three MUST HAVE beauty products? Just three? I LOVE beauty. Well, I’ve been a longtime fan of BareMinerals – and its mineral foundation powder will forever be in my makeup bag. The Benefit Rollerlashmascara is without a doubt the best mascara I’ve ever used. And I’ve tried hundreds. Third one is new actually but I recently tried Aveda’s wedding masque. You’re supposed to wake up with that ‘oh, it’s my wedding day today!’ glow and I actually did. I just need the ring now. And a groom.

8. I know you’ve recently been on holiday to Mauritius which looked AMAZING. Where’s your all time favourite holiday destination? Well, that one! Seriously, I’ve never seen views quite like it. Everywhere looked like a postcard. The hotel I stayed at – The ShangriLa Le Tousserok– was totally dreamy with ocean-view rooms. Other than that I go to Dubai every year – I love it there! My favourite trip would have to be Coachella with all of my friends. We had the best time! And it was all so exciting… we tagged on Vegas at the end, and well, that was just crazy fun!

9. I LOVE your style. Who do you take style inspiration from? Instagram friends… I’m very much a copycat, and I’m not afraid to admit it. Alex (from The Frugality) is a favourite – and she’s a friend. I wish she’d just buy two of everything and save me a job. I also like Emma Hill, the We Are Twinsetgirls, Lindsey from Ropes of Holland, Erica from The Edited, Lucy Williams, Alex Light, and Katherine Ormerod. Basically anyone who mixes high with a bit of low. Celebrity-wise, I think Diane Kruger always looks great. Alexa Chung is a favourite of mine, as is Olivia Palermo. I’m quite the Basic Bitch, let’s face it.

10. Plans + Goals for 2017? To stop sweating the small stuff. And to stop comparing myself to other people. Other plans include saying yes to more fun things, saying no to things I don’t really want to do, and finally finish Marie Kondo’s bookand figure out exactly how I’m supposed to fold my socks.

My favourite article that Leanne wrote last year has to be her write up of attending the VICTORIAS SECRET FASHION SHOW in Paris. It made me laugh SO much! You can read it here.

I hope this brightened up a very GLOOMY (and never ending) January for you all. Thanks Leanne for your fabulous interview!